Synecdoche, New York (2008)
Comedy, Drama |
Synecdoche, New York is a American postmodern comedy-drama film written and directed by Charlie Kaufman in his directorial debut. It stars Philip Seymour Hoffman.
The plot follows an ailing theater director as he works on an increasingly elaborate stage production whose extreme commitment to realism begins to blur the boundaries between fiction and reality. The film’s title is a play on Schenectady, New York, where much of the film is set, and the concept of synecdoche, wherein a part of something represents the whole, or vice versa.
Theater director Caden Cotard finds his life unraveling. He suffers from numerous physical ailments and has been growing increasingly alienated from his wife, Adele, an artist. He hits rock bottom when Adele leaves him for a new life in Berlin, taking their four-year-old daughter Olive with her.
After the success of his production of Death of a Salesman, Caden unexpectedly receives a MacArthur Fellowship, which gives him the financial means to pursue his artistic interests. He is determined to use it to create an artistic piece of brutal realism and honesty, something into which he can pour his whole self. Gathering an ensemble cast into an enormous warehouse in Manhattan’s Theater District, he directs them in a celebration of the mundane, instructing them to live out their constructed lives. As the mockup inside the warehouse grows increasingly mimetic of the city outside, Caden continues to look for solutions to his personal crises.
Director: Charlie Kaufman
Writer: Charlie Kaufman
Stars: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Samantha Morton, Michelle Williams, Catherine Keener, Emily Watson, Jennifer Jason Leigh
►Cast:
| Philip Seymour Hoffman | … | Caden Cotard |
| Catherine Keener | … | Adele Lack |
| Sadie Goldstein | … | Olive (4 years old) |
| Tom Noonan | … | Sammy Barnathan |
| Peter Friedman | … | Emergency Room Doctor |
| Charles Techman | … | Like Clockwork Patient |
| Josh Pais | … | Ophthalmologist |
| Daniel London | … | Tom |
| Robert Seay | … | David |
| Michelle Williams | … | Claire Keen |
| Stephen Adly Guirgis | … | Davis |
| Samantha Morton | … | Hazel |
| Hope Davis | … | Madeleine Gravis |
| Frank Girardeau | … | Plumber |
| Jennifer Jason Leigh | … | Maria |
| Amy Wright | … | Burning House Realtor |
| Paul Sparks | … | Derek |
| Jerry Adler | … | Caden’s Father |
| Lynn Cohen | … | Caden’s Mother |
| Deirdre O’Connell | … | Ellen’s Mother |
| Kat Peters | … | Ellen (10 years old) |
| John Rothman | … | Dentist |
| Amanda R. Phillips | … | Emergency Room Nurse (as Amanda Fulks) |
| Frank Wood | … | Evaluative Services Doctor |
| Deanna Storey | … | Jazz Singer |
| Elizabeth Marvel | … | Warehouse Realtor |
| Laura Odeh | … | Toystore Clerk |
| Mark Lotito | … | Minister |
| Daisy Tahan | … | Ariel |
| Erica Fae | … | German Woman (as Erica Berg) |
| Raymond Angelic Sr. | … | German Doctor |
| Cliff Carpenter | … | Old Man |
| Timothy Doyle | … | Michael |
| Amy Spanger | … | Soap Actress Nurse |
| Nick Wyman | … | Soap Actor Doctor |
| Portia | … | Therapy Patient Actress |
| Dan Ziskie | … | Leg Tremor Doctor |
| Chris McGinn | … | Lady at Caden’s Mom’s |
| Robin Weigert | … | Adult Olive |
| Gerald Emerick | … | Man in Line |
| Alvin Epstein | … | Man with Nose Bleed |
| Rosemary Murphy | … | Frances |
| Emily Watson | … | Tammy |
| Tim Guinee | … | Needleman Actor |
| Kristen Bush | … | Actress Playing Claire |
| Greg McFadden | … | Actor Playing Needleman Actor |
| Barbara Haas | … | Warehouse Actress |
| William Ryall | … | Jimmy |
| Dianne Wiest | … | Ellen Bascomb / Millicent Weems |
| Joe Lisi | … | Maurice |
| Alice Drummond | … | Actress Playing Frances |
| Michael Higgins | … | Actor Playing Man with Nose Bleed |
| Stanley Krajewski | … | Actor as Caden |
| Tom Greer | … | Medic |
| Christopher Evan Welch | … | Pastor |
| Michael Medeiros | … | Eric |
| Tee Brennan | … | Actor |
| David Collihan | … | Sign Painter |
| Brie Eley | … | Warehouse Actor |
| Alan Gary | … | First Burlesque Patron |
| Don Gomez | … | Actor Playing ‘Davis’ in Play |
| Brigitte Hagerman | … | Claire Keen’s Sister |
| Scott Hatfield | … | Psychiatrist Actor |
| Takako Haywood | … | Girl in TV Commercial |
| Kyle Knauf | … | Warehouse Worker |
| Amelia Martin | … | Actress as Tammy as Hazel |
| Rebecca Merle | … | Upstate Theater Attendee |
| Brenna Palughi | … | Actress as Claire |
| Sal Rinella | … | Art Gallery Patron |
| Tomasz Smolarski | … | German Patron |
| Misha Zubarev | … | German patron |
Sources: imdb & wikipedia